Maran says climate law may not pass in current parliament

Estonia’s climate law may not be adopted by the current parliament because the Reform Party and Social Democrats remain divided over its content, Social Democratic member of the parliament’s Environment Committee Tiit Maran told ERR.

Maran said the Reform Party wanted a law without substantive measures, while the Social Democrats wanted clear targets. Without an agreement, he said, there would be nothing to discuss either in the committee or in the parliamentary chamber.

Earlier versions of the bill set specific goals and restrictions, Maran said, but the current draft has no targets for individual sectors. He argued this would make it impossible to impose restrictions on businesses and could lead to disputes in court between companies and the executive branch.

Maran also said the bill’s overall national goals represented a step backwards and did not align with, for example, the European Union’s 2040 goals. He said the Social Democrats’ main proposed compromise was to include sector-specific emissions reduction targets.

Environment Committee chair Yoko Alender of the Reform Party rejected Maran’s description of the draft as empty. She said she understood the Social Democrats’ wish for a stricter law, but their proposed changes did not have support among businesses, which she said favoured a more flexible, economy-wide target.

Alender said she believed Estonia deserved a climate law and that the country should not move faster than businesses were ready to. Asked whether the Reform Party still expected the Social Democrats to support the current draft, she said that was for the Social Democrats to decide.

The committee will continue discussions on the bill, Alender said. She said it would also consider how to clarify parliament’s role in the process and details of the roadmaps that are to set out agreements between sectors and their respective ministries.